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Gems
are a humanoid species made of gemstone that inhabit the land of the planet. There are 28 gems on the island at the start of the story. Characteristics The Gems take the forms of humans with bodies made of polished gems that depend on the material they are made of. Most of them have hair, eyes, and nails the same color as their gemstone bodies. During the day, they apply white powder to their bodies to simulate skin and while their hair looks solid, it can be manipulated similarly to human hair (cut, tied, braided, etc). Apart from the adult Kongo-sensei, their appearance takes the form of androgynous young teens. It is unknown if Kongo-sensei originally looked like the younger gems or if the younger Gems will eventually grow to appear as masculine as him. The Gems appear to be lacking sex characteristics, making them sexless. Their outer body functions much like a human's, and they appear to be able to use all five senses, though they are unable to detect temperature. They can ram into each other to determine another Gem's hardness. Each Gem is differentiated by their hardness and toughness. Some Gems can be very delicate, making them unsuited for battle, while others are very hard and durable. The Gems carry microscopic organisms called "inclusions" (インクルージョン) in their bodies, which energize them by absorbing light. Due to this mechanism, Gems need sunlight to survive, forcing them to sleep at night and hibernate in winter. Furthermore, inclusions allow Gems to be put back together when shattered, making them technically immortal. The oldest known Gem is Kongo-sensei (at least 3600 years old), with Phosphophyllite as the youngest Gem at the start of the series, being only 300 years old. Their memories (and personalities, it's assumed) are stored within the gemstone that makes up their bodies. As such, losing any part of their body will result in some memory loss. Their lost body parts can be replaced with other material as long as they are compatible. They can speak underwater but their powder skin can melt off, requiring reapplication. Salt-water (as in the sea and the school's pond) can damage some gemstones so anti-salt resin is required. The waves are also dangerous since the pressure can shatter their body. Acid can also be dangerous to Gems, such being melted within the body of a giant slug/snail. Although in the one incident where a Gem was eaten by such a creature, the melted body just changed into fragments. It's unknown if completely melted Gems can be revived. Poison (such as the liquid that surrounds Cinnibar) can also harm Gems as any part of their body that comes in contact with it will be damaged. This damage prevents light from passing through, so these parts will need to be scraped off. In critical situations, some Gems can fix themselves without the resident doctor Rutile's assistance if their fragments are mostly together and in one place, though they do not do as good a job as Rutile. It is shown that they still can speak when they're broken as long as they are mostly intact, but will lose consciousness when left in mere fragments. Being broken or melted is described as feeling very sleepy and being paralyzed. Being hit by another Gem appears to make them uncomfortable, as shown when the Amethyst twins headbutted one another, much to Phosphophyllite and Yellow Diamond's discomfort. History As told by Kongo-''sensei'' According to him, the planet was broken after being visited by meteor for the sixth time. It gave birth to six moons, leaving it an emaciated shadow of its former self. There was nothing left but a single beach, so all life fled to the ocean. Some creatures who had flourished when the moon was still one were too slow in their escape and sunk into the seas. They were eaten by tiny creatures on ocean's floor, turned into inanimate objects, crystallized over the ages, and rose to the surface at the Beach of Beginnings. In rare instances, this leads to a Gem successfully taking form. As told by Ventricosus According to the Admirabilis' legend, there once were creatures called humans who lived on and preserved the land until it broke five times. When it broke the sixth time, they entered the seas. It's said that there, they split into three parts; the spirit, the flesh, and the bone (or evolved into different three species and lived on). The Admirabilis are said to be the flesh, inheriting the ability to expand and pass down their knowledge; The Gems the bone, returning to the land having made a contract with another living species and gaining the ability to live for millennia; and the Moon People as the spirit, forever wandering, attempting to regain its flesh and bone. Culture The Gems use male pronouns (he/彼 'kare'; older brother/お兄様 'onii-sama'; younger brother/弟 'otouto') to refer others. While most of them also use masculine ways of saying "I" (boku/僕, ore/俺), their personal speech patterns vary greatly between masculine and feminine. Even so, they don't seem to be aware of gender and/or sex characteristics, such as Phosphophyllite asking Ventricosus about her "two water bags". That instance aside, gender is never brought up or explained within the work. Whether they see themselves as male or genderless is left unconfirmed. Most call each other with various nicknames, but all call Kongo "Sensei" ''(Teacher). The Gems live in a spacious school building with a large bell that they use as a signal. The school uses jellyfish as lighting instead of electricity-based technology or fire, neither of which have been shown in the series. They also use traditional tools for hand-spinning textiles and crafting. They're able to produce textiles by themselves, craft tools, make papers and pencils, and have developed science in medicine and herbs (but gem related). [[Kongo|Kongo-''sensei]] teaches the young Gems anything they need to know, though the school does not seem to hold any organized classes. Each Gem is entrusted with a role or roles they're suited for, though almost all of them are fighters and have patrol duties during day. The different roles shown so far include patrolling, health and medicine, crafting, smithing, tailoring, and strategy and planning. They have their own dorms to sleep in at night, and hibernate in one big room in the winter. In their free time they may play card games, which were either taught to them by Kongo-sensei or created themselves. Every time the Moon People come, the Gems must ring the bell to alert everyone of the situation (for instance, six rings tells the Gems to standby and await further orders). Patrol teams usually consist of two Gems, which leaves one to fight and the other to keep watch or run for Kongo-''sensei in the case of an encounter. Usually after the bell is rung all the Gems come together with him, though he will always disperse the Moon People alone. Every morning they have morning assembly, which is especially important for those patrolling that day. They use the international/English name of gems for their own names, but use the Japanese 'Kongo' for Adamant and 'Shinsha' for Cinnabar. Except for Kongo-''sensei, ''who wears a Buddhist monk kimono, the Gems wear the uniforms sewn by Red Beryl for their day-to-day lives. Their winter hibernation wear shares similarities with female Japanese ''kimonos. Red Beryl, who in charge of clothes, tends to like things feminine and frilly. Due to their unique structure, they have no concept of true death and tend to cherish short-lived things like hemp and paper. They also seem to have a hard time giving up on anything. And because they're technically immortal, they're not too emotional when they lose their comrade, as they're immortal and they know they could meet again. Though their significant self-blame and obsession over their kidnapped comrades seems to suggest there's more to their feelings there. They tend to think living organisms are inconvenient, and some (like Bort) think that the Gems are better. They see their brothers being used as tools for the Moon People as unethical. Excepting Kongo-''sensei'', the Gems are not informed and have no idea about humans. But some characteristics of humans, like tears, are referred to by him as "the dregs of an ancient species". Due to most of them having patrol work all day, they tend to gaze at the sky rather than the land, and don't know (or think they don't need to know) anything about things they don't use. Thus being said, but they really do love field flowers, they gather bouquets during sensual moments, have hand-made flower bowls and grow a lot of various plant and flower species beneath school roof, assuming they must water and weed them. When Phos got her golden hands, she shows flowers to prove the hands are not dangerous. They are really caring towards each other and unconditionally love their only teacher. List of known Gems Gems on Earth at the start of the Story : # Kongo-''sensei'' # Phosphophyllite # Morganite # Goshenite # Rutile # Red Beryl # Benitoite # Cinnabar # Jade # Diamond # Bort # Euclase # Neptunite # Yellow Diamond # Zircon # Obsidian # Amethyst # Alexandrite # Antarcticite # Padparadscha # Ghost Quartz / Cairngorm # Watermelon Tourmaline # Sphene # Hemimorphite # Peridot Kingo-sensei and then Cinnabar said there are 28 gems though. Gems on the Moon at the start of the story : # Heliodor # Green Diamond # Ruby # Sapphire # Pink Topaz # Pink Fluorite # Lapis Lazuli # Topaz # Chrysoberyl # Blue Zoisite # Aquamarine Gems born after the beginning of the story : # Morganite (New) # Goshenite (New) Trivia * In mineralogy, an inclusion is any material that is trapped inside a mineral during its formation. In gemology, an inclusion is a characteristic enclosed within a gemstone, or reaching its surface from the interior. According to Hutton's law of inclusions, fragments included in a host rock are older than the host rock itself. * Kongo-''sensei'' is the only adult in appearance among the Gems. * Kongo-''sensei''/金剛先生 and Cinnabar/シンシャ are the only Gems who have Japanese names instead of English in the original Japanese version. Though note that "Shinsha" is written in katakana like all the other Gems' names, rather than its normal kanji (辰砂). Gallery Img000005 2.jpg 02 03-1.jpg Book 1.jpeg|Volume 1 of the manga. Book 2.jpeg|Volume 2 of the manga. Book 3.jpeg|Volume 3 of the manga. Book 4.jpeg|Volume 4 of the manga. Book 5.jpeg|Volume 5 of the manga. Hoseki6.jpg|Volume 6 of the manga. Lapis and phos-0.jpg|Volume 7 of the manga. Thumb 83523 book small.jpg|Volume 8 of the manga. Maxresdefault.jpg The gems intro1jap.jpg|Character profiles in volume 2 of the manga. The gems intro2jap.jpg|Character profiles in volume 3 of the manga. The gems intro3jap.jpg|Character profiles in volume 4 of the manga. characterprofilevol5.jpg|Character profiles in volume 5 of the manga. Concept Art 1.png|Episode 1 Concept Art Concept Art 2.png|Episode 2 Concept Art Concept Art 3.png|Episode 3 Concept Art Concept Art 4.png|Episode 4 Concept Art Concept Art 5.png|Episode 5 Concept Art Concept Art 6.png|Episode 6 Concept Art Concept Art 7.png|Episode 7 Concept Art Concept Art 8.png|Epsode 8 Concept Art Concept Art 9.png|Episode 9 Concept Art Category:Gems Category:Species